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5A-West Notebook: Alma-Greenwood Series At Risk

Alma hosts Greenwood on Tuesday for possibly the last time in basketball.

With Greenwood's move to 6A next school year and relocation to the 7A/6A-Central, there is no guarantee that the traditional rivals will play again in basketball.

According to Arkansas Activities Association rules, teams can either play three tournaments and 20 regular-season games or two tournaments and 22 regular-season games. Most teams opt for three tournaments and 20 regular-season games since teams usually play three or four games in tournaments.

"We don't give up those early season tournaments where you play three games," Alma head coach Stan Flenor said. "This team won two tournaments, playing back-to-back-to-back nights. That's a pretty tough feat to do.

"In the state tournament, we may have to play back-to-back-to-back nights. We've considered all of those things, and we're just exploring things right now."

With 14 conference games, that limits Alma and Greenwood to only six nonconference games to play in November and December. Alma generally plays Van Buren, and has settled into a series with Springdale. Greenwood also plays some of the 7A-West teams in nonconference play.

Also, with football playoffs in November, both schools also begin basketball season without a full squad and are reluctant to play difficult competition early in the season.

"It does limit what we can do," Flenor said. "We've discussed some possibilities. They have to look at what's best for their program and how their nonconference schedule is. There is nothing official."

Basketball schedules for the next two seasons are usually worked out after the conclusion of basketball season.

"We're very interested in playing Alma in everything," Greenwood athletics director Jerry Cecil. "Sometimes it is hard to work out, but I'd be surprised if we don't work something out with Alma. We have our conference schedule already, but we haven't really worked on our nonconference schedule yet. We'd be every interested in them playing in our H.B. Stewart Classic."

For now, all that matters is Tuesday.

"We haven't discussed that, but it doesn't matter if we're playing horse shoes or tiddly winks, Alma-Greenwood is going to be a battle," Flenor said. "It will be sentimental. We don't know how the conferences are going to lie a couple of years from now.

"Right now, it's us and Greenwood on Tuesday and that's all we need to know."

First-Half Lead

With the first half of the conference round-robin schedule finished, the Alma Airedales reside in first place with a one-game lead over Morrilton.

The Greenwood Lady Bulldogs received an extra boost on Friday night. In addition to beating Morrilton to move to 7-0 in the conference, Vilonia lost to Siloam Springs, leaving those two teams two games behind Greenwood at 5-2.

"It did give us a little breathing room, but our main concern is to just take care of our ourselves every night," Greenwood head coach Clay Reeves said. "Naturally, we prepare for the other team but the only thing we can control is what we do. Our kids are doing a good job of that.

"We really want to win a conference championship, but the main thing is to get to the state tournament."

Greenwood also has the luxury of four home games in the second half of the round robin, beginning with Harrison on Friday.

"It will be nice to be home on Friday nights," Reeves said. "Our three away games are our closest games, which makes it nice for our kids. They know we have seven conference games left. Like we talked about the other day, it's 7-11. We have anywhere from seven to 11 games."

Alma holds a precarious one-game lead in the boys' race, but the 5A-West will turn into a either a race or a chase real quickly. The Airedales travel to Morrilton on Friday to begin the final half of the schedule and will own either a two-game lead with six games and three home games to go, or there will be a two-way tie for first place.

"It's outstanding that we went 7-0, but there are challenges ahead," Flenor said. "We have to continue to improve. We have four tough road games and three tough home games. We try not to be too high or too low.

"The teams are going to give us their best shot. This team does a good job of accepting challenges. We want to play our best basketball of the end of the year."

Still Looking

The youthful Alma Airedalettes are looking to be the surprise of the conference in the second half of the conference schedule.

"We've talked about the monkey on their back," Alma head coach Madelyn Flenor said. "I just keep thinking it's going to click, that it's going to happen for us. I'm real, real pleased with our effort and with our improvement level.

"I think we can be one of those teams that surprises in the second half if we even get it to fall into place."

Alma is 0-7 in conference play and would love for possibility to outweigh probability in the next four weeks.

"I really felt like, with the exception of two basketball games, that we were right there in them and had opportunities," Flenor said. "That's encouraging because I do think we can turn it around.

"For this group, if they can go 5-2 in the second half, that would be a really good season. I think that's possibility. I'm in a probability stats class right now and they say probable and possible.

"Maybe it's not probable, it's hard to have confidence when we've gone through the season we have, but it is possible to come back."